The Death of Dreams
by WDCain Man
Summary: How could this have happened? It was over. He beat Lelouch and brought him before the Emperor. How could Lelouch have won? Now Suzaku was endure the horrors from his failure, the death of all his dreams. AU set between R1 and 2.


_**A Code Geass fanfic – The Death of Dreams  
**__**Written by WDCain Man**_

Disclaimer: Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion is not mine. It's created by Sunrise and licensed by Bandai Entertainment with characters created by Clamp. No profit is being made from this fanfic.

After reading the _Code Geass_ section on tvtropes, it occurred to me what it would be like if instead of the world existing only to screw over Lelouch, what if destiny decided to make Suzaku its new favorite chew toy. So when better to take his world away then when he thinks he has it all?

**Spoiler Alert**: Pretty much all of R2 is referenced here, so get ready for some HUGE spoilers that really change what was set out in season one. Seriously, I don't think any anime since NGE made me turn my head as much. I also think that the producers didn't really have a clue what 2/3s of the second season was going to be so they forced the director to do some dopey changes. Still once they got to China and the rest, I thought it was all golden.

**XXXXXXX**

_**The Death of Dreams**_

_**Part One:**_

_**Victory for Lelouch**_

**XXXXXXX**

Suzaku smashed his traitorous friend's face to the Imperial thrown room's cold marble floor. Lelouch struggled desperately to raise his head and use his power on the king, his father, his mortal enemy, to save the world. But without eye-contact, his power was as useless as an unloaded pistol.

Suzaku Kururugi knew all this from the mysterious V.V. who explained the horrid power Lelouch used to plunge Area 11 into a bloody terrorist uprising; and Euphemia, lovely and perfect Euphy, dead, framed for ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent Elevens. Euphy's brainwashing had provoked countless citizens in armed terrorism, all in accordance of the defeated Eleventh Prince's mad wishes. Hundreds of thousand more would die until they surrendered to Prince Schneizel counter-armada.

And the reason why Lelouch did this? He always said it was for Nunnaley, but Suzaku knew different. Lelouch was harmed so badly by everyone that all he could do, all he would do, was harm everyone else.

Just like a mad dog.

And so Suzaku beat the pitiful beast into submission on Kamine Island. It took so long to do so. Throwing Lelouch on the ground and pistol-whipping him to exhaustion and get him out of his Zero costume and into a prisoner confinement uniform.

Now before the king, the animal's father, Suzaku grinded Lelouch's face to the ground like he could be scrapped away like a beauty mark. His punishment would be up to the Emperor, the very devil Suzaku sold his soul to in order to save Japan. He came so close with his beautiful Euphy, but the devil's son, the Anti-Christ, ruined that wonderful dream the two lovers shared.

The 98th Emperor glared down at his defeated son with both disgust and hatred. He had yet to even acknowledge that Suzaku had defeated his daughter's killer and by default secured Britainnia's straggle-hold on Area 11, the land Suzaku once proudly called Japan. All that mattered to him was that another of his lowly offspring tried to defy him. Yet strangely, it seemed to only anger the Emperor that his son had failed to win.

"The former seventeenth heir to the Imperial thrown, Lelouch vi Britannia." Charles zi Britannia, 98th Emperor of the Holy Britannia Empire, announced boldly while sitting upon his throne, glaring down at his child with a dominating sneer. "It's been a long time; hasn't it, my errant son?"

Suzaku applied more pressure to his fallen friend's skull as Lelouch struggled to lift his head. "How dare you-!"

And the Honorary Britainnian slammed his captor's head, bringing him back against the floor.

"You will not use your Geass." Suzaku stated, no regard for his former childhood best friend. He ignored the shear hatred in Lelouch's sneer. There was so much malice in him, even when he first arrived at the Kururugi family home. He had hoped that Lelouch would have learned to let go of his hatred, but even Nunnally couldn't accomplish that.

It was for the best to keep him as far away as possible from Nunnally. All he would do is kill her like he did to his other sister, Euphemia.

Suzaku knew he would need power to accomplish that, though. "Your Majesty, I have a request." Now Suzaku would join the Devil in his inner circle. "Please sire, allow me to join the Knights of the Round, the twelve strongest knights of the Britannian Empire."

"…As a reward for capturing Zero, is that it?" The Emperor summarized, as if one of his boys was asking for a raise in his allowance.

The King's response only furthered Lelouch's struggle. "You…" he growled and Suzaku could feel the fury that he'd been revealed. Genbu's son thanked every deity he knew that Kallen saw how wrong Lelouch was and left him to face judgment.

"I told you before Lelouch, I am going to change this world from the inside." Suzaku replied steadily, no emotion at all.

This icy apathy only made the fallen prince's fury grow even more. "Even if it means selling out Japan to the _man_ who enslaved your people?!"

"…that's right." Suzaku said steely, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Traitor!" Lelouch screamed with pure venom. Suzaku's only response was to push him harder to the floor.

The Emperor's only response was to smile, feeling rather amused by the scene of his son's best friend selling him out for a promotion. That should teach him not to put his trust in people. "Very well, Kururugi; I like the answer you gave me."

Suzaku only bowed his head, having finally passing the first hurdle to save Japan. More battles would happen now. More war. But eventually, he would have the power to become the Knight of One and give the Japanese their pride back. He would bear the brunt of their sins. No one would suffer anymore. Freedom would come the right way. His way.

"Now then…" the Emperor said, rising from his throne. "As a Knight of the Round, I order you: Cover up Zero's left eye."

"Yes, your Majesty." Suzaku obeyed and lifted Lelouch's head up by his hair, ignoring the grunt of pain, and placed his left hand over Zero's only chance of escape.

The Emperor, murderer of millions, casually walked over to them with a cold gaze.

"My unworthy son… who raised the banner of rebellion although he was a prince." The ruler of Brittainia began. "Still, there is another way that I can make use of you." He stopped a short distance away, still looming over them, always above them. His left eye shifted, and a familiar signal appeared.

"What?" Lelouch exclaimed. A horrible feeling shivering through his stomach upon recognition. Geass. Suzaku noticed but did not care. Serving the King was the only way to change the horrible monster that was Brittainia. Knowing his master possessed that wicked power as well was just one more crime Suzaku would carry.

"I will rewrite your memory, about being Zero, about the death of your mother, about the continued existence of Nunnally, and even about your time spent in Area 11." The Emperor proclaimed, his judgment absolute and final.

"No… Geass…" the beaten prince murmured in despair. It seemed to Suzaku that Geass was a common power among devils.

"You will remember none of it." The Emperor stated coolly. "You will become a most effective pawn."

This was the moment.

The moment that would destroy all of Suzaku's hopes and dreams for the future.

In the years that followed, Suzaku would look back on this moment and wonder many things.

Why hadn't Lelouch lashed out in fruitless anger?

Why hadn't he simply screamed in despair that he had lost?

Why didn't he just kept his damn mouth shut?

"That's it, isn't it?" The still defiant prince spat out venomously. "Is _this_ how you got mother to marry you? Geass?! Of Course! Without it, she would NEVER have loved you!"

In an act that would have made the front page of newspapers across the world, the Emperor stood frozen in shock with his eyes wide in genuine horror. The very notion that Marianne never loved him was so soul-shaking, so terrifyingly insane, that it actually caused the man who treated his own children like chess pieces to freeze.

The Emperor's jaw slowly slid into place like a muscle reflex. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet that it could barely be heard in the massive chamber. "Marianne loves me, the true me."

"Like anyone could love you!" Lelouch denounced the idea as preposterous. "How could someone who doesn't love have others _love_ him?!"

"Marianne believed in my dream." Shock gave way to anger as the Emperor's face slowly turned to righteous indignation. "She believed in my Ragnarok Connection."

"And what's that!" Lelouch cursed, Suzaku's fingers squeezing his face even tighter. "Another damn Knightmare your scientists cooked up!"

"The Ragnarok Connection is my defiance against God!" The Emperor bellowed like a raging beast. "It is the means to destroy lies!"

Suzaku did nothing but kept his head bowed and his hand over Lelouch's devil eye. He paid no attention to the philosophical stratagem that drove his master to conquer the world and subjugate his people into slavery. All that mattered to him was that he was now in a position to change Brittainia and change Area 11 into a better place, one Euphy would be proud of.

It would take him time, years, but Suzaku knew he could change the corrupt Brittainian Empire into an institution that Nunnally would beam with pride upon seeing. He would have to let go of petty hatreds and insignificant pride. He would have to rid himself of dangerous restraints to become a true leader of man, the type of man Lelouch should have become.

"When the Ragnarok Connection is successful," the Emperor stated, "then such tragedies will no longer take place."

Suzaku ignored the father-son squabble. So many have died in Area 11 because of the sheer animosity between these vicious royals. Only darling Euphy and Nunnally were excluded from this madness the Brittainia family suffered from. Even now, its two most dangerous members were having some sort of philosophical debate while millions of Japanese were being executed in Area 11 for their treacherous upraising.

"The Ragnarok Connection is the future! It is the gentler world Nunnally wished for!"

"You lie! That world is false! It's nothing but denial!"

Suzaku tightened his palm over Lelouch's eye, wishing he could gouge out the horrid object that tarnished his wonderful Euphemia. But the Emperor would punish him, strip him of his newly acquired rank, and end all his plans to save the world from itself. For now he would have to obey the devil to build heaven.

"I say again! The Ragnarok Connection is the future," Charles stated through clinched teeth, his patience nearly at its end. "It is the gentler world Nunnally spoke of."

"No it isn't! The world you speak of is merely gentle to you! The world Nunnally wished for is one where all people are kind to others!" Lelouch howled, causing Suzaku to twist his shoulder near to its breaking point. "It's degrading, a step backwards in time! A world without progress!"

"Everyone will come to understand eventually," the Emperor stated calmly but with a hint of anger from dealing with a petulant child building. "That is the best of worlds, the world I will give to _everyone!_"

"Even so…" and what Lelouch said next was spoken with the same will and strength as when he swore to destroy his homeland. "WHAT I WANT IS TOMORROW!"

Suzaku would have considered this to be the last rant of a condemned man before his punishment except for what he saw: Emperor Charles ze Britannia trembling. The scourge of the free world was shaking like a scared child.

But when faced with the commandment of a God, it is rationalized-

"**OBEY MY EVERY COMMAND!**"

-as Charles fell to his knees.

Suzaku stared and was confounded as the wicked man thrashed in place about like a trapped animal. His maw was clenched so tight, that blood poured between the King's teeth. The king's fingers dug into his scalp so deeply that the thick bone of the skull was heard cracking. Charles threw his head back as a soundless scream rang silent. It was his last desperate act.

The King rolled his head back to face the pair, his eyes open wide in ignorant bless, and raised his hand to salute. "Yes, your majesty!"

Suzaku, mind reeling, could not grasp what he was seeing. The King was not himself. He would never submit to anyone, much less his evil offspring. But what could be the cause? Lelouch's geass was a non-factor. The evil eye was covered and was no threat. He gazed down to affirm this fact but froze at the sight.

Lelouch had geass in his other eye.

"Release me and arrest Suzaku!"

Suzaku instantly clapped his hand over Lelouch's mouth. The captured Prince looked at him as a minor annoyance in return.

"Guards! Attend me!" the King bellowed in anger. The soldiers outside flooded into the king's chambers. Each were heavily armed with the sharp blades of the royal guard. "Release my son and arrest Suzaku!"

"He's mind-controlled! Don't listen to him!"

He was ignored. No matter what policy stated, Suzaku was an Eleven and the King's word was law. Defiance would never be considered by the Royal Guard, though had they known this one time, it would be.

Suzaku tensed, adrenaline rising. Genbu's son started breathing heavily as his mind raced to find a solution, any solution to save this. But there was none. Reflexes took over, leading Suzaku to grip Lelouch by his neck.

_Could he do it?_ The question demanded. They were friends no longer. Suzaku hands tightened around the monster's neck as the guards rushed closer.

"Kill me and they'll kill you, Suzaku." Lelouch whispered, the enormity of the threat ringing loudly in Suzaku's ears.

_LIVE!_

The command activated and Suzaku threw his bound enemy at the guards like a burlap sack. Almost comically, the frontline soldiers buckled over catching him. They laid him down gently and two begun feverously removing the prisoner-suit. The remainder focused on their target.

A dozen of hardened soldiers charged Suzaku but he fought back like a true master of Tohdoh's combat school. Suzaku was lashing out, backed by blind rage at the world and Lelouch; and striking effectively. His strikes punctured the throat of the first Royal Guard, killing him. The second was just as quickly dealt with. Suzaku pirouetted behind him and broke his neck.

Even as the guards removed his bindings, Lelouch watched him become some kind of whirling dervish of punches and kicks. The guards' spears and swords were more bane than boon. The amusing thing about arming guards with bladed instruments is that a skilled martial artist could easily swipe it and use it against the poor fool who lost his weapon. Suzaku sliced open the jugular of one guard before impaling the one behind him, a warning that none of the guards would heed.

It seemed he would never be brought down, but more and more guards kept rushing into the chamber. The numbers were too great, even for him. Suzaku had knocked three more to the floor, two dead from cracked skulls and one from a crushed larynx, before one finally tackled him from behind. Then they were on him like a pack of wolves.

It took half dozen men to hold him down. Suzaku howled like a mad dog as the remainder kicked him and beat him to a bloody pulp. Suzaku couldn't do a thing but spit blood on their boots as they broke his face. The guards pulled him to his feet, the fight over.

Out of his one good eyes, Suzaku looked back to see his best friend, his nemesis, standing coolly in front of the thrown with the enslaved king standing beside him as a loyal servant. Lelouch gazed over the grand hall in ruthless cold objectivity. All were ants before him and none could hope to topple him.

The guards dragged Suzaku away to face whatever horrors planned for him. There was nothing he could do to this, to stop _him_. His bones were broken, his skull was cracked, and his spirit defeated. Suzaku's promise with his darling Euphy was undone. All his hopes for a better world, a safer Japan, improved life for all Elevens, and Euphemia's vengeance were dead. In every metaphysical way, his soul was dead.

All Suzaku could do was ask himself how this happened. He captured the villain. He foiled his plans for the world. He cut him off from the source of his power. It was over for the monster. How did this happen? How did Lelouch win?

As he was dragged from the royal chamber, Suzaku heard the cold raspier from the devil as Lelouch leaned in close to his mind-slave father and hissed with venom on his tongue. "Now tell me what happened to my mother and how you have Geass."

Then everything went black.

**XXXXXXX  
**_**End Chapter One…  
**_**XXXXXXX**

This is my first new story of the year. In terms of my writing, 2013 has been pretty bad for me. Way back in January, my dirty comedy '_Why Couldn't I Just be Dissected?'_ was met with _severe_ scorn and bile by the fanfic readers on FFN. I received so many negative comments the first day I put it online. People were really upset with me; calling me a degenerate and monster for 'writing such a sickening story' (direct quote from one review).

The FFN moderators received DOZENS of comments denouncing my story as vile and my account, which I had for over 10 years, was taken down within a week. That was a crushing blow to my ego. I've gotten negative critiques before but I just was not prepared for the sheer amount of hostility my fanfic generated. I thought it couldn't get any worst but I was wrong.

In early March, my computer crashed. I lost everything: All my stories, pictures, music, games, fanfics, and porn saved to my hard drive. It took me weeks to fix my computer and another month to get the back-ups of _most_ of my stories. Most of my previous back-up files couldn't be read by my computer. It was a complete debacle.

I was really ready to just give up fanfic writing once and for all. I didn't really have the time for it with my new job and all the negative feedback my story garnered came close to killing my writing flair. Fortunately, I had some positive reinforcement from Greywolf4 and Spiritblade. With kind words from my fellow writers igniting my spirit, I have begun post stories again!

WDCain is dead. LONG LIVE WDCAIN MAN!

The dreaded fanfic that got my old account canned can be found on the site. It's listed in _Cartoons – Danny Phantom – Hetero_ under my new AFF account, WDCain (that name just really sticks with me). Check it out, if you dare. Seriously though, a few reviews have stated the story is too tame to be on AFF and should be on FFN. Cruel Irony at its finest.

A small part of my hopes the real reason why my old account was flagged was because I wrote that I found _Metroid: Other M_ more fun than _Eternal Darkness_. In game forums, that account is sacrilege. But I meant every word. Below is my list of favorites from 2012.

Favorite new game: _Metroid: Other M_ with _Eternal Darkness_ as my number two. While MoM's story is stupid, the gameplay is **FANTASTIC**! I would love to see a 3D Contra, Metal Slug, or Megaman X with this exact same gameplay. Team Ninja's work on this game is simply flawless! Sakamoto's story on the other hand… yikes!

Favorite new comic: _Superman/Batman Generations I & II_. Both do a superb job of showing DC's heroes throughout the ages and how they change and not change when facing the problems of the times. John Bryne, you still got it!

Favorite new cartoon: _Wing Commander Academy_. Holy Heaven, this was awesome! It showcases the tragedy and horrors of a soldier's life far better than any Gundam anime out there! Heck, I bought WC2 Deluxe because I liked this cartoon so much! Now if I only could figure out how to get it to work on dosbox…

Favorite new anime: _Castle in the Sky_ movie. I'm really not following anime anymore. I guess I'm just growing up. I've only watched 2 new ones this year, this and Masari Obari's _Gravion_. When it comes between Miyazaki or Obari, it shouldn't be a surprised which is better.

Favorite new novel: All the books I read this year were either average or awful. The best work of fiction I've read all year is Kenchi618's fanfic _The Newest Challenger_. Every new book I read this year was nowhere near as good as that fanfic. The fact that I am a **huge** _Street Fighter_ also contributeted to it as he writes everyone perect.

Favorite new TV show: _Elementary_. Sherlock Holmes has long been a favorite of mine and I love this new version. I hope it lasts as long as USA's _Monk_!

Favorite new musician: _Ted Nugent_. Spirit of the Buffalo baby!

Favorite new movie: Jeez, there were too many amazing movies at the theatre this year. All were blockbusters and I have no idea which I would say is the best. The best old movie I've seen this year is the French foreign film, _The Triplets of Belleville_. It did an amazing job of showcasing non-verbal storytelling. Check it out!

I hope I will have more new stories to bring all of you! Please remember to read and review!


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